batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l3447-l3547
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l3447-l3547
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: TABLE VII. / THE BODISATS. / TABLE VIII. / THE DISTANT EPOCH.; lines 3447-3547
start: '3447'
end: '3547'
translation: Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Dīpankara Buddha approaches along a prepared road with saints, angels,
and human worshippers. The hermit Sumedha, seeing the Buddha’s majesty, lies face
down in the mire with his hair, bark garment, and skin mantle spread out so that
the Buddha and disciples may tread on him rather than in the mud. While lying
there, Sumedha resolves not to seek immediate Nirvāṇa alone, but to attain omniscience
and Buddhahood in order to carry men and angels across the ocean of existence
by the ship of the Truth.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Dīpankara enters the prepared road before Sumedha’s portion of the road is
cleared.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Dīpankara is accompanied by four hundred thousand saints and is described
with supernatural attributes and purity from sin.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Men and angels receive Dīpankara with music, applause, clasped hands, flowers,
and other offerings.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Sumedha sees Dīpankara’s bodily marks, halo, and six-hued Buddha-rays.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Sumedha states that he should make a sacrifice of his life for the Buddha
and prevent the Buddha from walking in the mire.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Sumedha loosens his hair, spreads his skin mantle, matted hair, and bark garment
in the mire, and lies down like a bridge.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Sumedha asks that the Buddha and disciples tread upon him rather than in the
mire.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: While lying on the ground, Sumedha considers that he could destroy human passions
and enter Nirvāṇa, but instead resolves to become a Buddha.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Sumedha expresses the aim of carrying men and angels across the ocean of existence
in the ship of the Truth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Dīpankara Buddha
description: An incomparable Buddha, Conqueror, lord of the universe, endowed with
Buddha-majesty, supernatural qualities, bodily marks, halo, and rays.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Sumedha
description: A hermit who clears the road, lies in the mire before Dīpankara, and
resolves to become a Buddha for the sake of men and angels.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Saints or disciples accompanying Dīpankara
description: A company described as four hundred thousand saints like Dīpankara,
possessing supernatural attributes and purity from sin.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Angels
description: Celestial beings who offer wreaths, perfumes, music, flowers, and applause,
and are among those Sumedha intends to save.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Men
description: Human worshippers who pay homage with perfumes, flowers, music, applause,
and clasped hands, and are among those Sumedha intends to save.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: Approaching Buddha
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Dīpankara is the Buddha for whom the road is prepared and who enters it with
disciples.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: Self-offering devotee
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sumedha lies in the mire and asks that the Buddha tread upon him rather than
in the mud.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: Bodhisattva aspirant
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Sumedha chooses to attain omniscience and become a Buddha to save men and
angels rather than seek immediate Nirvāṇa alone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:4
label: Attendant saints
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The saints accompany Dīpankara as he enters the road.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: Worshippers and offering-makers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Men and angels approach with music, applause, flowers, perfumes, and clasped
hands.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: Beings to be saved
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:5
basis: Sumedha resolves to save men and angels and enable them to cross.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Prepared road or path
literal_form: Road, way, and path cleared for Dīpankara’s coming
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: Mire
literal_form: Inky mire in the road
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: Body as bridge
literal_form: Sumedha lying in the mire like a bridge of jewelled planks
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: Hair, bark robe, and skin mantle
literal_form: Loosened hair, bark garment, and hermit’s skin mantle spread in the
mire
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: Flowers, perfumes, and music
literal_form: Celestial and earthly flowers, perfumes, wreaths, hymns, drums, and
music
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:6
label: Halo and Buddha-rays
literal_form: Halo of a fathom’s depth and six-hued Buddha-rays
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: Ship of the Truth and Ocean of Existence
literal_form: Ship of the Truth carrying beings across the Ocean of Existence
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:8
label: Stream of transmigration
literal_form: Stream of transmigration to be cut off
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Dīpankara approaches the prepared road
summary: Dīpankara Buddha enters the road with a large company of saints while men
and angels honor him with music, offerings, flowers, and applause.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Sumedha lies in the mire
summary: Sumedha decides to sacrifice himself for the Buddha, spreads his hair and
hermit garments in the mire, lies prone, and asks that the Buddha and disciples
tread on him rather than in the mud.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Sumedha’s bodhisattva resolution
summary: As he lies on the ground, Sumedha decides not to seek immediate liberation
alone, but to attain omniscience and Buddhahood in order to save men and angels
and carry them across existence.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Voluntary self-sacrifice before a sacred figure
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Sumedha explicitly frames his act as a sacrifice of his life for the Buddha
and lies in the mire so Dīpankara will not tread in it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents a devotional bodily offering rather than death actually
occurring.
- id: motif:2
label: Bodhisattva vow to save beings before personal liberation
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Sumedha says he could end his passions and attain Nirvāṇa, but instead resolves
to attain omniscience and become a Buddha to save men and angels.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage’s specific doctrinal frame
is the bodhisattva aspiration.
- id: motif:3
label: Crossing the ocean of existence by a salvific vessel
taxonomy_refs:
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: The passage uses the image of the Ship of the Truth carrying men and angels
across the Ocean of Existence and cutting off the stream of transmigration.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The imagery concerns liberation from transmigration, not a literal afterlife
journey map.
- id: motif:4
label: Sacred path prepared for a divine or enlightened arrival
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The road, way, and path are cleared for Dīpankara’s coming, and worshippers
gather as he enters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is approximate; the passage emphasizes arrival
and reception rather than departure.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3447-3547; verses 51, 56
quote_or_summary: Dīpankara, called an incomparable Buddha and Conqueror, enters
the prepared road with four hundred thousand saints possessing supernatural attributes
and purity from sin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3447-3547; verses 57-61
quote_or_summary: Men and angels receive the great Being with applause, clasped
hands, celestial and earthly music, and flowers cast down or upward.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3447-3547; prose before verse 51
quote_or_summary: Sumedha beholds Dīpankara’s perfected form, bodily characteristics,
halo, and six-hued Buddha-rays.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 3447-3547; prose before verse 51
quote_or_summary: "“This day it behoves me to make sacrifice of my life for the
Buddha: let not the Blessed one walk in the mire”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3447-3547; prose before verse 51 and verse 62
quote_or_summary: Sumedha loosens his hair, spreads his skin mantle, roll of matted
hair, and bark garment in the mire, and lies prone like a bridge of jewelled planks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 3447-3547; verse 63
quote_or_summary: "“Let the Buddha advance with his disciples, treading upon me;
/ Let him not tread in the mire, it will be for my blessing.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 3447-3547; prose after verse 63 and verses 64-65
quote_or_summary: While lying in the mire, Sumedha thinks he could destroy human
passions and enter Nirvāṇa, but asks why he should do so in disguise and resolves
to attain omniscience and become a Buddha.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary provided.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 3447-3547; prose after verse 63 and verses 66-68
quote_or_summary: "“Embarking in the ship of the Truth, I will carry across with
me men and angels.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Literal extraction is well supported by the passage. Motif taxonomy assignments
are cautious because several available taxonomy categories are broader than the
specific Buddhist doctrinal content.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not establish a specific cross-textual or cross-traditional comparison.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l3447-l3547
passage_sha256=dcad44920d904c97896ece57835133020d8583f102d94b0d43376d5e2baa4251